Every Tuesday Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two, from a book you are reading or will be reading soon.Today's book I got yesterday from the library after seeing it by chance. I'm really enjoying it, a book set in Jamaica, written by a Jamaican-American writer and teacher now living in Brooklyn.
"Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect..." Margot works at a hotel in Montego Bay to support her mother Delores and her younger sister Thandi, whom she wants to further her education to lift herself out of relative poverty.
Margot herself is a clandestine member of the gay community and will probably have to leave the homophobic island culture at some time. As I read along, I'm waiting to see if this happens.
First paragraph:
The long hours Margot works at the hotel are never documented. Her real work is not in answering the telephones that ring off the hook, or writing up delinquent housekeepers for sleeping on the beds and watching TV when they're supposed to be cleaning. Her real work is after hours when everyone had bid their goodbyes and piled up in the white Corollas --robot taxis -- at the massive gate of the resort, which will take them home to their shabby neighborhoods, away from the fantasy they help create about a country where they are as important as washed-up seaweed.
What do you think? Would you read on?
Wow! I hope she manages to get away. Thanks for sharing, and here's mine:
ReplyDelete“IN HER WAKE”
You know I'm going to be singing that song (the title) all day long. But I do like the first paragraph and not just because the main character is named after me. It sounds like a fun book.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting. The opening is enticing. And I agree with Margot's comment above, regarding the title! Thanks for sharing this snippet.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely curious about Margot's "real work." I'd keep reading to find out what it is.
ReplyDeleteMy Tuesday post features MIAMI MORNING.
I'm so curious as to where this is leading. Great Pick
ReplyDelete